For information only – not an official document
UNIS/SGSM/1480
18 March 2025
The poison of racism continues to infect our world – a toxic legacy of historic enslavement, colonialism and discrimination. It corrupts communities, blocks opportunities, and ruins lives, eroding the very foundations of dignity, equality and justice.
As the theme of this year’s International Day reminds us, 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – a powerful, global commitment to eradicate racial discrimination in all its forms.
Forged amidst the civil rights, anti-apartheid, and decolonization movements of the 1960s, the Convention sets out concrete steps countries must take to combat racist doctrines, promote understanding, and build a world free from racial discrimination. Today, it remains a beacon of hope to guide us in dark times; times of rising hate and discord, stoked by growing inequalities, algorithms that monetize hostility, and those who seek to divide for their own gain.
On this International Day, I call for universal ratification of the Convention, and for States to implement it in full. And I urge business leadership, civil society, and everyday people to take a stand against racism in all its forms, and to take action to make the spirit of the Convention a reality. This is our shared responsibility.
The United Nations is a proud ally in the fight for the dignity and equal rights of each member of our human family. We will not rest until a world free of racial discrimination becomes reality.
* *** *
"United Nations personnel serve some of the world's most vulnerable people while aspiring to our highest ideals: peace, dignity, equality and justice." — António Guterres
The retreat of glaciers in the Upper Danube River Basin is one of the most alarming consequences of climate change, says the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) as it joins the global community in commemorating World Water Day 2025.
"The theme of this year's World Meteorological Day – Closing the Early Warning Gap Together – reminds us that, in this new climate reality, early warning systems are not luxuries." — António Guterres
"As the world renews itself this spring, let us remember that every new year, and every day, is a chance for a new start; a chance to do things differently; an opportunity to build a better world." — António Guterres
